The party was lovely, if not my kind of thing. If anybody showed up with traditional gifts, the parents tactfully put them out of sight. We just read our blessings and wishes, and the parents thanked everybody for the various qualities we shared with the baby. A bit touchy-feely for my taste, but quite nice. If it hadn't been for the coffee can marked "[Baby's] College Fund," it would have been almost perfect.

As for the gift: I baked some cinnamon bread and gave it to them. The baby wouldn't get any, of course, but the parents and older brother did. They seemed happy with it.

Willow, your splinters blessing had me giggling for a good ten minutes. I'll save it in case they have a third child.

I've never heard of a "welcome baby into community party". Sounds a tad bit odd.

Well, it's to try to solve a problem that's come up at this board frequently. Showers are only supposed to be held for first-time parents (or, possibly, if for some reason the parent needs to "start over", such as a 10 year gap between children). However, people then complained that the subsequent babies don't get "celebrated" properly. So, the "meet the baby" party was born. Basically, it's a shower minus gifts.

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My cousin's memoir of love and loneliness while raising a child with multiple disabilities will be out on Amazon soon! Know the Night, by Maria Mutch, has been called "full of hope, light, and companionship for surviving the small hours of the night."

The party was lovely, if not my kind of thing. If anybody showed up with traditional gifts, the parents tactfully put them out of sight. We just read our blessings and wishes, and the parents thanked everybody for the various qualities we shared with the baby. A bit touchy-feely for my taste, but quite nice. If it hadn't been for the coffee can marked "[Baby's] College Fund," it would have been almost perfect.

As for the gift: I baked some cinnamon bread and gave it to them. The baby wouldn't get any, of course, but the parents and older brother did. They seemed happy with it.

Willow, your splinters blessing had me giggling for a good ten minutes. I'll save it in case they have a third child.

This probably wasn't the case - but I have a relative who has a friend (are you with me so far?) whose daughter married into the Orthodox Jewish faith. It seems that maternal Grandma (non Jewish) was told that she was expected to host some sort of welcome-Baby party when the baby was about three weeks of age. (The baby was a girl, so no concern about a bris, etc.) But I'm not certain as to whether it was meant to be a gift-giving occasion.